AGC

AGC

@agc1985.bsky.social

Green, queer, socialist, widow, translator, geek (he/him). Based in Southampton, UK.

747 followers903 following1.3K posts

AGC reposted

Saul Staniforth
@saulstaniforth.bsky.social

"I do support the Labour Party, not the benefits party, & Labour, the clue is in the name, its the party of work" No, Labour was established to represent the interests of the working class, but its easy to understand why a multi millionaire company boss would rather it didn't.

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Dan Sohege
@danielsohege.bsky.social

The errors caused by AI in processing asylum claims have been shown to be far higher than the Home Office's claims, somewhere around a quarter. For many people that can be a life of death decision. AI has no place determining that for people. www.wired.com/story/uk-hom...

wired.comUK Home Office May Face Investigation Over Use of OpenAI TechA government watchdog is considering a probe into the Home Office’s use of ChatGPT technology to process asylum claims amid concerns over the tools’ accuracy and secrecy surrounding their use.

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UNISON
@unison.org.uk

BBC News: Minimum wage set to rise but 18-20 year-olds will not get bigger increases. UNISON general secretary, Andrea Egan, called it 'deeply unfair' adding young workers "don't pay less in the supermarket or at the petrol pump. They must be paid equally." buff.ly/rcUP6rw

buff.lyMinimum wage set to rise but 18-20 year-olds will not get bigger increasesChancellor John Healey will reveal the new pay rates in the Budget, and has also announced measures to help households with the cost of living.

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flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Lads, if I was you I would try to make it less obvious who it is that is baying for more fascism, crackdowns on democracy, corruption and looting of the world’s wealth

AGC
@agc1985.bsky.social
Mark Grimshaw@markgrimshawtism.bsky.social

If you thought the Conversion Practices Bill is already bad thanks to all the loopholes and allowances it provides, then don’t worry - it’s about to get worse. The Government are hearing “evidence” from anti-trans campaigners Helen Joyce, Dennis Kavanagh and the LGB Alliance this week.

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Phil McDuff
@mcduff.bsky.social

Just a reminder that this is the guy whose loss triggered panic in the global financial markets. Not just an ecocidal fascist who wanted to burn down the Amazon, but a snivelling little gangster. Just in case we were still labouring under the delusion that this was a good system.

Bruno Dies@brunodias.dev

Flávio Bolsonaro may have fled the country to get away from federal police but if that's the case he may also be trying to get away from all his criminal allies who now no doubt are realizing that he 1. failed to deliver, 2. is a huge coward, 3. sure knows a lot of shit

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Defend Our Juries
@defendourjuries.bsky.social

Children's authors pledge royalties to Sally Rooney after books pulled over Palestine Action support Ireland's and Wales's children's laureates pledge to donate royalties to Rooney, whose books have been pulled over her support for Palestine Action. www.newarab.com/news/writers...

newarab.comWriters pledge royalties to Sally Rooney after books pulledIreland’s and Wales’s children’s laureates pledge to donate their royalties to Sally Rooney, whose books have been pulled over her support for Palestine Action.

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shaunt
@shaunvids.bsky.social

guy who says he is 'as left as they come' but is actually a reactionary conservative for the 90s instead of the 50s

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Bruno Dies
@brunodias.dev

the contrast between seeing US democrats fall over themselves to embrace idiot transphobia all year and tonight seeing footage of the president embracing my (trans) congresswoman, Erika Hilton, at the election night party

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Erin Reed
@erininthemorning.com

The elections are on next Tuesday, and so much is at stake, including the soul of the Democratic Party when it comes to transgender people. I am asking you to leave a very small number of races blank in which a Democrat has embraced extreme anti-trans hate. I make my case here.

erininthemorning.comDon’t Vote For The Worst Anti-Trans DemocratsThe Democratic Party should, and likely will, win big in the midterms. We must not send the worst anti-trans voices to join them.

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Saul Staniforth
@saulstaniforth.bsky.social

Kevin Maguire is spot on, all this talk about people stocking up is part of a wider lobbying campaign to increase defence spending. And as Kevin points out, the UK is already the 6th biggest defence spender in the world.

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Allan Faulds
@afaulds.bsky.social

Hungary and now Serbia: Kinda bored of this whole despotism thing, maybe we should try something new? The rest of Europe for some reason:

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Patrick Wyman
@patrickwyman.bsky.social

Lula winning is great for the planet, great for Brazil, and great for people who aren't revanchist assholes everywhere in the world, but let's not forget that it's also going to make some of the worst people on Earth extremely sad and mad. We should enjoy that, as a little treat.

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Alasdair Mackenzie
@alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social

The BBC’s constant tendency to play down or ignore the true nature of the far right is a major contributor to its growth

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social

BBC report sanitises the overt racism: It notes that organisers warned marchers not to talk to journalists, then gives the "anti-immigration group"'s own sanitised description of itself. It does not report they chanted "England for the white man" in the streets. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.ukPro and anti-immigration protesters march in Herne BayThere was a heavy police presence for the marches by the Kent Nationalist Movement and its opponents.

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shaunt
@shaunvids.bsky.social

even abstracted into hypothetical maths this doesn't make any sense. picking the lesser evil still makes things more evil, just by a lesser amount

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social

It is, fundamentally, an exercise of choosing the lesser evil, over and over and over again, so that the total amount of evil in the system decreases over time. And you must keep doing it, because - since evil is easy - good is easily reversed.

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Jess O'Thomson
@jessothomson.co.uk

Viscerally upset by the Beth Upton stuff. They won't be satisfied until they have hounded a woman – who the tribunal explicitly found had done nothing wrong – to her death. Btw the "incident" in Australia is that a patient worried she *might* be forced to be treated by her. She of course wasn't.

AGC
@agc1985.bsky.social

So this one can’t be pinned directly on Labour (though, hello, Lisa Nandy, curious what you do and don’t have anything to say about these days). But it shows the continuing worsening national public climate for trans people under their watch, just like under the Tories. bsky.app/profile/tris...

Tristan Grayford@tristangrayford.scot

The BBC has become an explicitly and politically anti-LGBTQ+ institution. www.leicester.news/bbc-edits-ou...

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ moveTwo University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

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รℓσαɳε ℓყรɓεƭɦ
@sloanelysbeth.northsky.social

but they will keep poppies.

Leicester Gazette@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

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flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Nobody asked any Palestinians what they think, because our politicians and media outlets very plainly do not regard Palestinians as people. They would not have behaved the way they have for many years now, if they view Palestinians as proper human beings with rights, rather than as orcs or zombies.

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flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Replying to @flyingrodent.bsky.social

I mean, look. How many Palestinians have you seen on TV giving their opinion? It’s either zero or one, at most, because the Palestinians aren’t seen as fully human here in Britain either. They do not get a say in whether the people destroying their society are racist or not.

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flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Replying to @flyingrodent.bsky.social

I’m not racist but I do non-negotiably support a system of Confederate States style ethnic supremacy that has been operating South African racial division policies, now escalated to World War II level crimes against humanity. Nobody should say that is quite bad.

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flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

This is welcome and at least ten years too late. The time to fight is when there’s a battle, and not after the enemy has won total crushing victory and laid waste to the land.

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Zack Polanski
@zackpolanski.bsky.social

Miatta can clearly see right from wrong but she's rowed into line twice with a Labour government siding with Shell and Donald Trump on climate vandalism, and into line now on cruel immigration reforms. What is the point of Labour if they can't even do the basics to protect people and the planet?

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Ben Harris-Roxas
@benhr.bsky.social
Reuters@reuters.com

Anthropic logged net loss of over $80 billion in first half of 2026, WSJ reports reut.rs/4z2Zi9J

reut.rsAnthropic logged net loss of over $80 billion in first half of 2026, WSJ reportsAI startup Anthropic recorded a net loss of more than $80 billion ​in the first half of this year, including $72 billion in ‌accounting charges, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a draft initial public offering prospectus.

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flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

One thing I came to realise over the years is that the press isn’t really used as a way of convincing the public, so much as a disciplinary tool within our political and media class. Here is the party line, here is what we do to anyone who goes against the party line. Go against it at your peril.

Aurelien Mondon@aurelmondon.com

In the ongoing climate-change-denial adjacent coverage of the Guardian, here is the equivalent of the "this is fine" meme Truly incredible how off the editorial line has become in recent years...

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รℓσαɳε ℓყรɓεƭɦ
@sloanelysbeth.northsky.social

i want to scream.

The Guardian@theguardian.com

Chancellor to pitch budget at wealth creators – UK politics live

theguardian.comChancellor to pitch budget at wealth creators – UK politics liveJohn Healey is expected to cut red tape requirements, particularly for smaller businesses Good morning. A week today John Healey, the chancellor, will be doing a media round defending the budget he is presenting on Wednesday next week. Ahead of that, he has given an interview to Patrick Maguire from the Times. As you would expect, there is no real detail in it about the measures he will be presenting to MPs. But the big picture message is very clear – and quite surprising, coming from a chancellor serving a PM who in some respects is steering left compared to his predecessor. Healey says that he wants to be on the side of bloody-minded entrepreneurs who make a profit, he acknowledges that government has made their life harder over the past two years, and he suggests that cutting the ‘cost of living’ for business is just as important as cutting the real cost of living for families. In the quote that gives the Times its splash headline, Healey says: I want to be a chancellor who backs business in Britain making a profit, and those entrepreneurs who, in the end, are the ones who challenge the status quo, come up with innovative ideas and are trying, some of them through sheer bloody-mindedness, to keep going through these sorts of pressures … If you’re not making a profit, you’ve got nothing to put back into the business. And for the people who start up these businesses, the ones who really thrive and grow, they have to make a profit — and they will be much more inclined to put it back into their own business. But we want it to grow here and stay here. If you talk to any of the businesses that have come in and have either had one-to-ones or round tables with me, I have recognised that in recent times there’s been a lot of pressure: employment law, regulation, tax, input costs, supply chains. And so when I talk about the cost of business, and recognising that in the same way as we’re recognising the cost of living pressures, I’m conscious of that as I go into the budget for both businesses and households. [Healey] is expected to use the budget to make significant cuts to regulation on businesses that one senior Treasury source described as “the sludge choking firms”. Reporting requirements are likely to be abolished for many smaller enterprises, The Times understands. Continue reading...

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CN Lester 🏳️‍⚧️
@cnlester.bsky.social

Deeply moved by the moral courage of the @bma.org.uk in standing firm for the rights and dignity of all trans people in the face of discriminatory and dangerous government pressure

Nancy Kelley@nancymk.bsky.social

Here is the BMA saying "we were worried about the FWS case, warned you about the potential health risks associated with the proposed Code of Practice, and now you have gone ahead and implemented policies that will cause serious harm to trans patients and staff' www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opi...

bma.org.ukSTATEMENT: NHS guidance on the provision of single-sex services and facilitiesThe BMA has responded to the NHS Guidance on single-sex services and facilities

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Chris #ChangeEverything #VoteGreen
@chrisl86.bsky.social

I wonder what #GretaThunberg and the #FridaysforFuture think about this nonsense, #Labour are clueless and hopeless 🤦🤦🤦 Schools not a place for geopolitical protests, says education secretary news.sky.com/share/13601613

news.sky.comSchools not a place for geopolitical protests, says education secretaryThe government will introduce strengthened guidance on political impartiality in English schools after a review revealed the vast scale of antisemitism in schools and colleges.

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Kate
@rebelraising.bsky.social

Replying to @aurelmondon.com

This fucking framing of everything as a popularity contest between the people that propose x or y, with nothing including genocide or ecocide being an issue of substance, is the worst aspect of our media.

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Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

This is not about "climate campaigners" and framing it this way is totally ridiculous This is a blow to the planet and us all

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Zack Polanski
@zackpolanski.bsky.social

Won’t lower energy bills. Won’t boost energy security And creates just 27 jobs. Compared to all the benefits of investing in renewables and insulating our homes. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/zac...

thelondoneconomic.comZack Polanski accuses government of 'climate vandalism' over Jackdaw gas field approvalZack Polanski has accused the Labour government of 'climate vandalism' over its decision to approve extraction from the Jackdaw gas field.